


Wine & Blood

by Nellblazer



Series: The Tarot Challenge [3]
Category: Dracula (TV 2020), Dracula - Bram Stoker
Genre: F/M, Horror, Hunted Vampires, Hypnotism, Investigations, Murder, Mutual Masturbation, Sexual Tension, Vampires, Victorian, Victorian Attitudes, dracula bbc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 07:47:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30102624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nellblazer/pseuds/Nellblazer
Summary: Day 3 of the Tarot Challenge is JusticeAfter suspecting the death of your father to be murder rather than an accident, you journey to Count Dracula’s castle with your friend to investigate.*Please do not replicate my work anywhere else without my express permission*
Relationships: Dracula/Reader
Series: The Tarot Challenge [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2211630
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	Wine & Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Horror elements, smut, death  
> Prompt will be in bold in the body of the text

The moment I looked across the table to Count Dracula, I knew he was a monster. 

I had come to his castle, seeking resolution about my father who had been his guest for a time and returned to me in a casket. His letters from this place had become increasingly erratic, frightened even but the reverence with which he spoke of the Count seemed at odds with the rest of his missives. 

So I journeyed here with my faithful friend Barnsby on the pretext of walking my father's last footsteps. The Count had been all too happy to correspond with me over the matter and invited me warmly into his home. 

That first evening, we arrived too late to meet properly with our host who only briefly showed us to our rooms and gave us wine and bread to fill our bellies. For my part, I did not feel safe in that room, too many entrances and this pervasive feeling of being watched.

I took my Bible, tearing pages from it and used candle wax to stick them to the ground, covering all doorways and windows. The act might be sacrilegious but the word of God would surely protect me against the ills this castle might throw towards me.

During that night, I awoke many times. Sometimes I thought I heard an animal's growl, sometimes I saw red eyes that faded from view in the open doorways and sometimes there was a whisper from the window that threatened to dislodge the papers. 

I was tired when the morning came, my wits dulled and my body aching with the need to rest. I slept a little more until the sun was truly high in the sky before Barnsby came to fetch me.

He too looked terrible but had a pallor to him that was sickly. The bags under his eyes were deep and his cheekbones drawn. 

“What has happened to you?” I stand up in alarm. 

“I'm...I'm not sure,” he stammers. “I feel ever so faint. Will you help me to the kitchens?”

“Of course,” I loop his arm over my shoulder, passing over my lines of scripture as we went down the stairs as slowly as possible. 

Once I had seated him, I ran into the kitchens to prepare him something. He marginally recovered as I lit all the candles in the hall and set the fire going. For some reason this place held no windows or if they did, they were walled over, the patchwork obvious to the eye. 

Slowly I managed to drive back the darkness and concentrate on my friend who now at least was talking more coherently. The edge of frailty to his voice was receding. 

“Good morning,” Count Dracula appears from the shadows to take a seat at the opposite end of the table.

Now I had good countenance to look upon him properly, he was nothing like what my father had described in his letters and that disturbed me greatly. There was no old decrepit gentleman, no hair of white cloud on his head and no withered skin like that of a peach in the sun. 

What sat before us was a gentleman of around middle age, dark thick hair lustrous and shining, a vibrancy to the eyes as he roved them over us and a healthy glow in his face. It was that gaze that frightened me the most though; the gaze of challenge, the gaze of want and the gaze of feral intentions. 

If this indeed was the same Dracula my father had written of, black sorcery was no doubt at work here. I was right to guard my room with the word of God.

“Good morning,” I observe the proper formalities. “Forgive my friend, he is feeling rather ill today.”

“There is nothing to forgive,” Dracula waves a hand and I see the sharp nails for just a moment. “The journey was long. Many become ill after it. The air is different up here, you see.”

“You are not as imagined, Count,” I take some wine.

“And what did you imagine, my dear?”

“Someone older.”

“Then I apologise for offending you with my youthfulness,” his smile is charming but it sets me on edge. “There was another Count Dracula when your father was here. My own father but he passed away sometime after your own did. I am the Count now.”

“Oh,” Barnsby turns to me, obviously having had the same doubts I'd been experiencing. “Oh that explains it.”

“Forgive the confusion,” I say politely but my mind was still uneasy. 

There was something about this man that was not wholly natural. The eyes are the window to the soul and in Dracula's I saw something ancient there, old and primal.

I was not convinced, as superstitious as that sounds. 

“Would you join me for a tour, my lady?” Dracula stood up. “Your companion can rest here. I would take you to see the sights of my country from up on the tower.”

I did not feel safe being alone with him but I could not show my hand just yet. The rosary around my neck should protect me if the devil walked by my side today.

“That would be lovely,” I rise and take the arm he offers me. 

Being in this close proximity, I have to master my fear. As we walk through the dark halls of the castle, he is completely aware of where we are going and I am already losing my navigation. The way back to the kitchens, I cannot remember and my eyes are still not adjusting to the dark that seems to deepen in pockets and relieve in others. 

“Up those stairs,” he bids me. “I cannot go out into the sun I'm afraid, I suffer from a dreadful condition. From up there I can guide you to see the wonders of this place."

I expect a trap, to be set upon but when I open the heavy wooden door, I only see the overcast sunlight and the forest that surrounds the cliff. Dracula was right, it was wondrous and I began to wonder whether I had misjudged him. 

“Look to the right of you, you will see the town,” he calls up.

And so he walked me through the surrounding area until I had had my fill of the chilly air. I rejoined him as he held his elbow out once more but thought better of it, rubbing his hands down my arms instead. 

“You're cold, my dear. I'll put some extra logs upon the fire,” his fingers slither across my back as he leads me to our original starting point. 

“Thank you, Count.”

“Of course. Warmth is precious and you even more so.”

**

The Count was indeed charming. 

He regaled us with entertaining stories of his youth around this castle and in the forest. For a time I forgot what my purpose here was. 

Barnsby went to his quarters early, too tired to function much longer for that pallor had crept back into his features. Now I was alone with Dracula.

“You and I, we share a similar spirit I believe,” he moves to the adjacent chair. “I see a lot of curiosity within you, a thirst for knowledge.”

“You also wish to be more learned?”

“I am stuck within stone wall all of my days,” he holds his hands out. “One has to pass the time somehow.”

“Did you learn anything from my father?”

“Oh yes, quite an astounding amount of information he provided. The art of medicine really is advancing at an exponential rate in the west, is it not?”

“I am just sorry he could not help your own father.”

“Oh he did, in a way,” the answer is cryptic. “The passing was painless.”

“Well, if you will forgive me, Count, it is time I retire for the evening.”

“Let me walk you back. The corridors are a little perilous this late,” he goes to take the candelabra off the table and offers me a hand. 

His fingers are icy but I pay it no mind. He did say he had health problems after all. 

Up the stairs we wind until we get to the narrow hallways that lead into the gloom beyond. I stumble a few times, the flagwork a little uneven and in need of repair. The whole castle was crumbling around us due to a lack of maintenance.

Dracula kept me steady whenever I faltered and when I nearly fell down a hidden staircase to the side of me, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me back to safety. That had the unfortunate consequence though of me being held inappropriately when he would not let go immediately.

I was so close to him that I could not fail to see the spark of interest in his gaze, the flicker of want. In that moment I could not move, trapped there by something that wasn't quite fear. I  _ was _ afraid of him, that was true but there was something very charismatic about him as well. I'm not sure what it was translating to in my body. 

“You feel it, don't you?” his voice is low, dangerous. “The connection?”

“I am not sure I know what you're talking about.”

“I think you do,” his hand comes up to caress my jawline. “But it is late. You should rest.”

By this point, Dracula's lips were but a centimetre from my own. I'd never felt this base before, reduced to thinking about my own wanton desires. I was ashamed of myself. 

“Seize the moment if you want it,” he dares me, knowing full well the battle raging in my mind.

“This is improper.”

“And that's half the enjoyment.”

“Good night, Count,” I step away from him, knowing my room is only three doors down. 

“Good night, my dear,” his voice melts back into the darkness.

Once I am ensconced in the bedroom, I put more wax under my barriers of scripture, my paranoia at a high before getting under the covers again.

This night is even more restless than the last. It's like I hear Dracula calling to me in my sleep, softly lulling me to come to the door. The urge to get up from the bed is tremendous and I stagger towards the entrance, pushing the handle. 

I am not sure if I'm dreaming or not, my vision is hazy and my balance is unsteady. I could swear Dracula had no shirt upon him as I looked but it was hard to focus. 

“Let me in,” the voice is inviting, full of promise. “Let me in, my little dove. I can give you everything you ever wanted, everlasting life...and  _ me _ .”

“I....” I stammer. “ **I don't know what to do.** ”

“Just take the pages away,” his tone is like a purr.

That was what drew me back into myself. The scripture was protecting my sanctuary and any vision or creature telling me to destroy my barricade surely could not have good intentions for me.

“No,” I say with great effort, walking backwards. 

“No?” he laughs before I turn away, turn back and see he is fully naked in front of me now.

I see the whole of him, unabashed and confident in his stance. I am not so prudish as to have never seen a man unclothed but his state of arousal took me by surprise. “And now? I can give you whatever you want. I know you were thinking about me in a lustful way, I could scent it from the way your blood rushed down to your core.”

“I must be dreaming. This cannot be real,” I stagger to the bed again, falling onto the mattress in a daze.

“It is whatever you wish it to be. So what do you wish?”

“I wish...I cannot take this ache any longer,” I feel feverish, like I have drunk too much wine.

Heat spreads through me, bouncing and undulating back on itself until I know what the only cure would be. Could I really give into my sins like this? If this was a dream, there were no consequences for doing so. 

“Then let me in.”

“ _ No _ ,” I growl, feeling sweat start to bead on my brow.

“I admire your strength,” Dracula leans on the doorframe. “So do what you need to to get rid of the ache. You can look at me if you need encouragement.”

I made the mistake of glancing his way to see him stroking himself, eyes burning into the heart of me as he did so. My fingers moved down my body, nightdress pulled up before I sought the deep pulsing of my own lust, not caring any more if I was awake or asleep.

“That's it,” he croons. 

With my pleasures I would usually start slowly but I felt like an animal as I pawed at myself, fingers diving into the slick between my legs as my moans became licentious, mingling with the Count's own. Whenever I would look at him, the intensity of the expression I received back only spurred me to work my body harder and harder. 

“Give me a grand finish,” Dracula orders, eyes blood red.

I should've been scared of that image but my impending release flooded my mind as my back arched, my cries echoed around the stone room and I fell back to the covers in a panting, twitching mess. 

When I opened my eyes again, I was completely alone. The door wasn't even ajar.

I was too foggy, too satiated to stay awake any longer though and I fell into a sleep that was peaceful for once. 

  
**

I kept knocking at Barnsby's door the next morning but he would not answer. Eventually I grew so concerned I barged straight in only to gasp in horror at the scene that unfurled in front of me. 

Barnsby was gravely ill, skin like all the light had drained from it. He was fitting on the bed, foaming at the mouth and twitching uncontrollably.

“My god!” I rush forward, trying to still him. 

It takes all my strength to secure him down. Several times I lose my grip only for him to shake more violently.

Finally he calms but his eyes shoot open, a red corona around the pupil. It frightens me how vivid it is. 

“Gooooo,” he hisses, spittle dribbling either side of his mouth. “Get outtt. Not safe. Dracula...Dracula...GO!”

And then comes the final breath, rattling and haunting before my friend releases his soul unto God. 

So I run, I leave behind everything in my room and just flee. I skip some of the stairs as I race into the hall but I'm barrelled into a chair by something fast that's shrieking in an unearthly way. 

The wood splinters under my weight as the woman who's trying to claw at me topples as well. She has the same ring of red around her eyes that Barnsby did. 

“You shall not leave!” she hisses. “He forbids it!”

She scratches my cheek, hot pain blossoming from the tracks. I feel around for something to fend her off with, fingers clutching around a broken chair leg before I bring it up just as she moves down to bite at me. 

The wood sinks into her chest and she recoils with an ear-splitting scream that echoes in my ears long after it stops. Her skin withers before my eyes, hair turning first silver then white and her gaze becoming sunken and sightless. 

There's only an old woman on the floor when I manage to get to my feet, her mouth frozen in astonishment. 

I take no time to investigate, I just sprint to the front door and open it as I'm hearing footsteps behind me. Out into the courtyard and my pursuer finally speaks.

“Leaving so soon? I thought we were bonding?” Dracula calls.

I do not stop moving until I am within the boundaries of sunlight and only then do I turn back. 

“What are you?” I feel safe in the light's embrace. 

“You know, I'm not entirely sure,” the Count shrugs. “But what I  _ do _ know is that you hurt my feelings running anyway. After everything we shared last night?”

“So that wasn't a dream?” the memories of my shame comes back to me. 

“It was not and ohhhh, what a glorious little thing you are,” he grins. “You would've been my finest bride. My old ones needed replacing anyway, too feral for my liking but you are a lady of education and good standing. Perfection.”

“And what did you do to Barnsby?”

“I just said, didn't I? My old brides needed replacing. I'm not particular about what form they come in. Your friend is a very handsome fellow and will make a fine addition when he transitions after death.”

“He is not yours to collect!”

“I'm afraid he  _ is _ mine. In every way, Barnsby is mine. You'd best hope you can outrun me, my dear. I don't give up so easily once I set my sights on someone. I will have you in the end. Shame I could not have your father as well but he chose to dive from the tower rather than submit to me.”

“Murderer!” I back away. “I shall keep myself in sunlight and when I return, Count, I will bring the rays with me and rid the world of your foul being.”

“Such lovely words,” he chuckles. “And sinful promises. I look forward to it. Now go on, my little dove. Fly away home for now.”

I fled into the dawn without a single look back.

**

I returned to my ancestral home with a heavy heart.

It had taken me so long to get back, so many barters and trades considering I had escaped Dracula's castle without any wealth whatsoever. Now I was home, I was reticent to return. 

Knowing what Dracula was capable of, knowing what he did to my friend...it felt like I wanted to walk back into a nightmare and I was too afraid to. My actions had already caused enough damage.

So I stayed for a while, to recover myself, to shake off the grief and terror I felt. 

Still I dreamed about the Count every night. Sometimes it would be dreams of horror, sometimes it was banal and pleasant and other times...other times it was carnal. Even though he was miles away, I was never free of him. 

A few months later I had opened my balcony door, the room too stuffy in the night's summer heat and I'd fallen into dozing on the bed whilst my book fell from my fingers. 

“Oh my little dove,” a dark voice next to me makes my eyes shoot open.

Dracula is in my room and I am not sure if I am asleep or dreaming. I see him so frequently after all.

“You're not welcome,” I choke out. 

“Your footman already invited me in. In case you were wondering, you are in fact awake right now. I have journeyed across countries to come find you. I said I would have you, after all. Are you ready to join me forever?”

I don't answer, trying to get off the bed and to run but Dracula is faster and I am pinned under him as those same red eyes of my dreams appear in reality. 

“Ohhhh you are delightful,” he purrs. “You are going to be my favourite, I can already tell. First, I'm going to turn you, then I am going to take you and you will love me for it in the end.”

The last moment I spent as a human was in utter fear as the monster that killed my father and friend took my life as well.


End file.
